Chapter Twenty-Four

Violet

Ten days later, Dexter’s estate, Alta Mura Road, Pacific Palisades…

“I don’t care what Dexter Flint told you, Suzanne. You work for me, or did that fact fly out the window the moment the damn man flashed that killer smile your way?”

Violet was frustrated. Actually, she was more annoyed than anything. It wasn’t in her nature to just sit around and be pampered—least of all by a domineering man who believed he knew what was best for her recuperation.

“I swear, if I hear I have to rest one more time, I’m going to fucking lose my shit. Do you hear me, Suzanne?”

Suzanne Williams was Violet’s personal assistant, and the lead legal aid of the firm. One of the reasons she had offered her the job was because she was assertive and tenacious—something Violet learned she wasn’t even spared as her employer.

“I hear you, but let’s be honest, boss lady. You had a very serious accident, and even though you claim that physically you’re much better, something like that leaves a deeply emotional trauma on a person. Ask me, I know… or did you forget the accident I was in a year ago? Believe me, I still wake up in a cold sweat some nights from a nightmare. It’s only been a week. Give yourself time, and—”

“I’ve given myself more than a week. Now, I need something to take my mind off what had happened and start working. Be happy that I’m at least not coming into the office but am prepared to work from home.” She snorted angrily. “That is if I can ever get you to send me those digital files I requested.”

“I don’t know, Violet. Dexter was very insistent… put down the law, so to speak, and—”

“That does it,” Violet snapped angrily. “You work for me, Suzanne, and I am giving you a direct order. Send me those files and the depositions I asked for. If I don’t have them within the next fifteen minutes, consider yourself fired.”

“Geez!” she protested. “Talk about being the salami in the sandwich. Very well, Violet. I’ll send it over, but only if you promise not to exert yourself. If you need anything done, tell me, and I will do it.”

“However much I appreciate your concern, this isn’t a negotiation. Just send me those files.” She ended the call and wandered out to the pool. With her feet dangling in the cool water, she leaned back and breathed in the fresh mountain air. “Un-fucking-believable. I’m a thirty-four-year-old woman, not a teenager to be shackled in my room with others deciding what I am capable of doing.”

Violet couldn’t deny that even though she was irritated with Dexter going as far as to warn her own staff to keep her from working, his caring over the past week filled her with warmth. Living in the same house with him had been an easy transition since they had the same principles as far as hygiene, cleanliness, and food preferences were concerned. Besides, he spoiled her immensely; no matter how many times she told him to stop, he showered her with treats and gifts. It was those little things that made her heart skip a beat. The tender kiss in the morning as she came downstairs to find a full and freshly prepared breakfast waiting for her. The foot massages, the back rubs, and the brush of his hand against her waist when he walks past her. Everything he did made her feel special… and loved.

“I’m falling in love with you, Violet Russo, and I’m not letting you push me away. ”

The declaration Dexter had made at the hospital floated through her mind as it had ever since he’d uttered the words. Violet hadn’t reciprocated at the time; in fact, she had attempted to push him away. She had yet to tell him the true nature of her family. Once he knew… he’d run for the hills. Yet, there was no denying that her own heart had long ago opened its chambers to Dexter Flint.

She wasn’t falling in love with him—she was already head over heels in love with him.

“And here I thought that was never bound to happen,” she murmured. “Who am I fooling? I know nothing is gonna come from this. The law-abiding Dexter Flint will never propose to a notorious mafia lord’s daughter.”

It didn’t even matter that she had divorced herself from their business. Like she’d been reminded recently, the same blood flowing in their veins ran in hers.

“I have to accept that I’ll grow old alone. Bloodline is the one thing positive manifestations can’t change.”

A ping on her cell phone alerted her to the arrival of an email. “At least Suzanne took my warning seriously,” she said with a grim smile as she got up and settled on the sofa in the den where her laptop had been set up earlier to work.

Soon, she was engrossed in the legal world that had become the only stable foundation in an increasingly messed up reality she was pulled into.

Violet

Late afternoon…

“In case no one ever told you, I have a photographic brain, which means I remember the smallest detail that others don’t even notice. One thing I do know, without any doubt, is that I told you to rest, relax, and not exert yourself with work.”

“Ugh,” Violet rolled her eyes as a sigh of dramatic proportions escaped her lips. “And there my tranquil afternoon explodes in a throng of reprimands and assumptions that I, a fully grown, intelligent woman, am incapable of making decisions about my own health,” she preempted what she knew would be Dexter’s follow-up. She held up her hand. “Not one more word, Dexter Flint. I am done floundering about like a fish out of water. Besides, I haven’t moved from this spot, so I haven’t exerted my body in any way. My brain did all the work.”

“Very well. Since you are capable of making a decision that you were warned would carry a very specific consequence, I imagine you’re already prepared for this…”

Before Violet could grasp his intention, Dexter had deftly, yet gently, upended her over his lap. She let out a shocked yelp, more from surprise than pain.

“No! Stop that! You know I’m injured.”

He calmly rested his hand on the small of her waist to firmly hold her in place while drawing gentle circles to keep her calm.

“Oh, indeed I do, but it seems you’re not too injured to disobey me. Now, if you stop wriggling, your ribs won’t bother you as much.”

Violet huffed but stilled, nonetheless. Her heart pounded in her chest. She might be annoyed at being ordered about but there was no denying the anticipation coursing through her. If there was one thing she had come to learn, it was that she loved being spanked by Master D. Warmth spread through her as he caressed the curve of her buttocks.

“You know the drill, Violet,” Dexter began in a voice that was stern as much as it was laced with concern, “I explained my expectations and dynamics of our relationship in detail. When I give an order, especially one concerning your health and safety, I expect it to be followed.” He punctuated his statement with a sharp, stinging smack to her bottom with every word he spoke.

“Ouch! Fucking hell, Dexter, that hurts,” Violet yelped, as the stinging sensation was more intense than she had expected.

He paused to rub the spot he’d just spanked. His touch was lingering, caressing, but intentional as it forced the pain deeper into her muscles.

“Hmm… Perhaps that was a tad too much,” he conceded. His voice dropped as he swiveled to his more caring dominant side.

Violet squirmed as she acknowledged the warmth that flooded her body needed exactly what he was giving her. A proper, good spanking.

“No, it actually wasn’t,” she admitted grudgingly but couldn’t keep from wriggling on his lap, which elicited a gasp as her ribs protested with a sharp pain.

“Good. Now, do as I said and stop moving.” Another smack, this time harder, landed on the other cheek. “Because I won’t have you jeopardizing your health.” His voice turned dark. “You scared me, Violet. And I don’t scare easily.”

A flush of pleasure overwhelmed Violet at his words, even as another swat landed harder still. She couldn’t help but laugh as a bubble of nervous humor burst forth.

“You’re spanking me because I scared you? That’s ridiculous!”

Dexter grunted. “The fact remains, you disobeyed a direct order. And I can’t let that slide, can I?”

Violet shivered as his hand slipped under the waistband of her leggings.

“What are you doing?” she whimpered when his fingers traced the edge of her panties. Her breath hitched with every brush of his fingers. Her body ached with arousal even as her bottom smarted.

“Again, with that question?” he chuckled. “I told you before, if I have to explain what I’m doing, we have a serious problem, Miss Russo.”

“Well, what you’re doing has no purpose in a punishment spanking,” she managed to whisper.

“ Au contraire , love. Everything I do is always done with purpose.” Dexter’s hand stilled, and his voice turned serious. “I love you, Violet. More than I ever thought I could so soon, and that’s why I can’t have you taking unnecessary risks.”

The words to reciprocate jumped to her lips, but Violet bit them back. She couldn’t tell him of her own feelings… not until the ugly truth of her family had been revealed. Tears pricked at the corners of Violet’s eyes as the realization that he might walk away from her soon turned her emotions upside down, leaving her feeling raw inside.

“I know,” she said, sniffling slightly. “I’m sorry.”

“Good girl.” He resumed the spanking, each smack harder than the last as he intentionally increased their intensity.

“Holy shit!” Violet gasped and squirmed as her backside now smarted like a flashfire. Between each smack, Dexter paused to caress her intimately, his fingers slipping beneath her panties to soothe the sting. His touch left her teetering in a pool of confusion—pleasure and pain, pain and pleasure—until she couldn’t separate them from each other. Soon, she was lost in a sea of euphoria.

“Master D,” she breathed. Her voice thickened with desire. “Please…”

“Please, what, Violet?”

She shivered. Her body ached with need. “Please… I need…”

Dexter gently pulled her up, turning her to straddle his lap. Cupping her chin, he tilted her face up to his.

“Hmm, it seems the spanking worked,” he murmured as he brushed a thumb over her cheek to dry her tears. “Now, do you have something to say to me?”

Violet didn’t need another prodding. He might be a pro at erotic spankings, but her ass was on fire and had sparked to life another raging one that needed urgent attention.

“I’m sorry I disobeyed you, Master D.” She traced his lips with her fingers as she stared into his eyes. The little devil on her shoulder prodded her on. “But I refuse to be treated like a porcelain doll. I’m not going to break, and I sure as hell am not spending another day in bed, so you—”

“You should know when to quit, little one. The apology was perfect until your mouth ran away again.” He sighed heavily. “And here I was looking forward to a good fuck.” Pushing her off his lap, he looked at her sideways. “I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with another hand job in the shower.”

“You… you’re not serious?” Violet quickly scrambled back onto his lap when he moved to get up. “Oh, no, you don’t.” Stabbing her finger against his chest with each word, she frowned at him. “I took my punishment like a trooper, and big bad Dom protocol or not, you are going to reward me for that… good and fucking proper. Do you hear me, Master D?”

Violet cupped his face and leaned in for a passionate, all-consuming kiss. With a groan, she melted into him, her body aching with lust as he returned the kiss with a demand of his own. Before he changed his mind, she quickly took off her clothes and unzipped his pants.

“Ahh… Junior is already at attention, I see,” she murmured as she pulled out his hard cock. “Yes!” she cooed as he clamped his hands around her hips to guide her. Gingerly lowering herself, she quickly embedded him inside her—to the hilt.

Dexter groaned, his head falling back against the sofa as Violet sat unmoving for a moment.

“Fuck, Violet,” he growled with his hands tightening around her hips. “Careful, love. We don’t want to hurt your ribs.”

“I don’t care.” Violet panted as her body adjusted to his size. “My ribs will heal. Now, at this moment, I need this. I need you.” She began to move, slowly at first, her hips rolling in a sensuous dance.

“You want wild and dangerous, little one?” Dexter’s eyes darkened as his gaze locked onto hers. “You want to play rough with the big bad Dom?” His voice was a low rumble, a promise of pleasure and pain intertwined.

“Yes, please, Master D.” Violet nodded as a shiver ran down her spine. “I want it all.”

With a swift yet careful movement, Dexter flipped them over, pinning Violet beneath him on the sofa. He braced himself on his elbows, careful not to put any weight on her injured side.

“Keep your hands above your head, Violet. Don’t move them, or I’ll stop.”

“Master D, please,” Violet whimpered but complied as she gripped the armrest above her.

Dexter’s lips crashed down on hers in a hungry and demanding kiss. At the same time, he thrust into her, his pace increasing as each stroke was harder and deeper than the last.

“Master D,” Violet gasped as she arched her back to grind her mons against him. “Please… more.”

“Easy, love,” he growled. “I don’t want to hurt you.” His hand snaked between their bodies to find her clit. He toggled it firmly with his thumb, watching her intently. “Is this what you want, my sweet little slut? Do you want to come all over my cock?”

Violet screamed as lust washed over her with every brush of his finger. As he managed to do every time, the cursed rogue released something untamed to rampage within her. It explored the boundaries of her desire, scenting it, and crept unnoticed beneath the surface to overwhelm her in a surprise attack and seize control from her. She writhed beneath him.

“Yes! Please, Master D, please let me come.”

He accelerated his pace, applying steady pressure with his thumb to her aroused clitoris. Her hips lifted to meet his hand as she rocked in tight circular motions.

“Oh, fuck, please. I can’t hold back any longer,” she pleaded hoarsely.

Dexter’s thrusts became punishing as his body slammed into hers with a force that left her breathless. Yet he was mindful, his hand cradling her side to protect her ribs.

“Come for me, Violet. Come now.”

“Ahh, gaawd!” she wailed as her body convulsed when an orgasm ripped through her with a force that left her breathless. He thrust more deeply, plunging into her again and again, pushing her to a second climax, then continued until their hoarse cries washed over them in tumultuous waves of ecstasy, drowning them in the final demand of a mutually satisfying climax.

“Fuck me,” Dexter grunted. Violet smiled as she felt his body shaking with the intensity of his release. She did that. It was her—she had caused the big, powerful Dom to tremble in the aftermath. It made her feel powerful and extremely vulnerable as his dark eyes studied her.

“I’ll never let you go, Violet. No matter what secrets you hide behind those beautiful green eyes. You are mine. Now and always.”

“Dexter… I wish… God, how I wish it was that simple.”

“It’s as simple as you wish it to be, Violet.” He smiled gently as he leaned in to kiss her softly. “Believe in my love, and all will fall into place.”

“I… you…” Tears burned her eyelids, and she lowered her gaze, but he would have none of it. Pinching her chin, he forced her head back to look at him.

“You’re mine now, Violet. All mine, and nothing will ever change that.”

Violet forced the negative thoughts from her mind as she snuggled against his chest.

“Yes, Master D. I’m all yours.”

At that moment, Violet was content. Nothing else mattered. They had each other, and even though she hadn’t said the words, they loved each other, and for now, until everything went apeshit, that was enough.